TY  - JOUR
A1  - Spiekermann, Kai
T1  - Why populists do well on social networks
T2  - Global justice : theory, practice, rhetoric
N2  - A link between populism and social media is often suspected. This paper spells out a set of possible mechanisms underpinning this link: that social media changes the communication structure of the public sphere, making it harder for citizens to obtain evidence that refutes populist assumptions. By developing a model of the public sphere, four core functions of the public sphere are identified: exposing citizens to diverse information, promoting equality of deliberative opportunity, creating deliberative transparency, and producing common knowledge. A wellworking public sphere allows citizens to learn that there are genuine disagreements among citizens that are held in good faith. Social media makes it harder to gain this insight, opening the door for populist ideology.
KW  - deliberation
KW  - populism
KW  - public sphere
KW  - social media
KW  - deliberative democracy
Y1  - 2020
UR  - http://publikationen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/frontdoor/index/index/docId/61151
UR  - https://nbn-resolving.org/urn:nbn:de:hebis:30:3-611519
SN  - 1835-6842
VL  - 12.2020
IS  - 2
SP  - 50
EP  - 71
PB  - The Global Justice Network
ER  -